Читать книгу In The Night Time - Elouise Edron - Страница 4

CHAPTER TWO

FALLING INTO LINE

"Shit shit shit. I'm so sorry I'm late!" I said out of breath, bursting into the kitchen through the swing doors. But only my colleague Matt was there, my boss nowhere in sight.

“Where is he?” I asked, still processing my run from the train station and up two flights of stairs to the doors of Firehouse.

“Basement,” Matt said. “Surely he’ll want your help changing over the kegs…”

I flew back down the stairs, weaving my way through the foot traffic. It was a Friday night, and the bar was already packed with corporate after-work drinkers. I held my breath as I opened the door to the cellar, bracing for Dan, the livid bar manager, on the other side.

"Late again, Bianca?" His words immediately cut me down to size. I searched his eyes for a hint of forgiveness. "I can't keep covering for you; I've got a bar to manage – not kegs to change".

"I'm sorry, I've just got a..."

"I don’t want to hear it. Get to work. It’s hectic out there and I’m sure you could use the tips."

He knew my financial situation was tight, which is probably why he put up with me. I’d given up my second job a few months back as the uni assignments piled up, and without the support of loving parents, like most girls my age, I was barely making it. I’d made a promise to better my future through study, and if days of sexist customers trying to take advantage of me was what I had to deal with right now, I supposed I could make it through. The work was easy enough, it was just unfulfilling and relentlessly mundane.

I grabbed a badge and apron, and clocked in ten minutes late. My day really wasn’t going to plan, especially the whole ‘being confused for a girl willing to sell sex for a living’ thing.

***

Another 2am finish, and I was slightly tipsy from the few drinks I threw back to keep me calm.

Friday nights were busy, which meant I’d barely had a minute’s rest the entire night. Now though, after I had clocked out and was on my way home, that was my favourite time of the night. Quiet. Still. Peaceful.

I took my usual route home, walking under the light of the moon and letting my anxiety extinguish despite the daunting darkness. Looking up at the nights sky made me think about the enormity of the world around me, and how small my problems were when compared. Even though I was exhausted, these nightly strolls inspired me to keep pushing forward, making me believe I could achieve anything I truly put my mind to. The night time assured me that dreams were mine for making, and I knew that once I had achieved my degree, nothing and no-one could hold me back from the life I truly desired. No more studying at bars and getting harassed and having to work at as a waitress. Once I became a nutritional scientist, I would not only be capable of having control over my life, but I’ll be able help others make huge overhauls in their life too – even if it’s only changing their diet.

The street lights were bright enough to make me feel safe, but the wind ripped the warmth from me. My limited wardrobe barely got me by, especially as the winter months neared. A car would get me home safely, but this desire brought a tear to my eye as I thought about everything I had given up to become a student. If only I had more in my life.

I wished I had more money to pay the mounting bills. I wished my life was more exciting, that it afforded me more leisure time, that it would be the envy of others. I wished I could be open enough to trust again, to have people in life that cared for me, to have even just one person I could truly rely on.

Despite my brave front, that little girl inside was scared shitless about the changes I knew I had to eventually make. I knew what I wanted, but I felt so lost sometimes that the life I desired seemed more like a fantasy. I dug my hands deep into the back pockets of my shorts, finding the sharp edges of a card. His card.

"Pfff. DeGrain. Thinks he's some kind of big shot. What a phoney!" I said to myself out loud for all to hear, but no-one was around. I was in the dead of the night, constantly looking over my shoulder for threats, wishing this wasn’t my reality. Sighing to the relief of my solitude, I grabbed my phone and immediately typed his name into Google, ready to call his bluff.

Holy shit. Pages upon pages of information and photos of the man I had simply brushed off.

"Paul DeGrain is Director and Talent Agent for private adult film company, ‘Pulse Erotica’ since its founding in 2009”, his LinkedIn profile declared. I didn’t even know that social media allowed any kind of linkage to the adult industry.”

I needed to know more about this man that oozed exhilaration. BUT, was he for real?

I searched some more, and found a leaked video. I couldn't believe my eyes! I immediately recognised the soft blonde curls and piercing blue eyes of the starlet currently gracing the latest gossip magazines on every shelf, of every grocery store across the nation. Perhaps she was ‘Hollywood royalty’ these days, but it turns out, her start was much like mine, chasing anything that paid the bills in order to get ahead.

"Holy shit! He actually wasn't lying!”

I spent the rest of the walk home with a smile brewing on my face, ruminating over my brush with stardom. I had rubbed shoulders with someone so stimulating, someone so extraordinary, and he was interested in me; yet it felt as if I had made it all up just to escape my ordinary reality.

Perhaps, I thought to myself briefly, this was the lucky break that could lift me out of my impoverished life. After all, if an A-list celebrity could do it and become a success, surely, I could too.